Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-09-28
"You stole that liQ,tor!"

''A''AII|N|IfN E>'''''' DVH
"You stole that liq,tor!"
Don't laugh at Inc, cir; don't dare to
laugh at the court. Many poor fellow
is lying in Newgate at this moment, and
will be hanged by the neck, for no worse
an offense. Worse? Far, far lighter.
They stole, being common rogues. You
betrayed trust; being reputedly an hon
est officer Far, far lighter. Tell the
court, again, sir. Did you or did you not
steal the brandy9'
He stammered in confused accents that
he did.
"You took the bottle with you, sup
pose, on purpose to steal it if you got q
chance?"
IT did,"
"There is pretty rogue for your" cried
the sergeant, throwing himself back and
sticking his thumbs into his waistcoat
pockets. "Here is a villain in grain! He
deliberately plans q robbery, deliberately
executes it, and in open court boasts Of 1t!
My lord, must ask for the prosecution
of this rogue. In the interests Of the
country such q rogue must be hanged.
His punishment would be beneficial to the
public morals. I am not sure that I
ought not TO ask for the prosecution OF
his superior offlcer-if not as particeps
criminis, then as conniving at and sitting
the crime"
He turned again to the terrified wit
ness, whose legs trembled beneath him,
while his cheeks were of ghastly pallor.
6yorr oy,I nnonoH ifs
you found brandy in it; you stole some OF
that brandy. Pray, were there other
kegsS"
of my dark lantern"
"Good. Did you open those kegs!"
"No."
"Were those kegs ever examined?"
''No; they were all cleared out while
we were marching the prisoner away"
"You have no knowledge what they
containeds''
Brandy, of course" said the man,
picking up his courage little.
"You will swear, without knowing the
facts, that they contained brandy''
How could''-
"Answer my question. Can you swear
that they contained brandy"
"No."
"They may have contained butter. We
all know the excellence of French butter.
Will you swear that they did not contain
butter?"
"No.n
One or two other witnesses were ex.
amined, who all swore to the same facts.
Ono thing was clear, that had it not been
for that unlucky little bottle of brandy,
the prosecution would have broken down
completely.
Three witnesses for character were
called.
The principal evidence was the Rev.
Benjamin Burden, rector of Rousdon.
The poor old rector, a veritable peasant
priest, stood in the witness box clad In
his tattered cassock and his battered old
wig, yet bearing upon him the dignity of
his sacred calling. The sergeant handled
him with much softness and delicacy. He
made him inform the court that he was
the rector of Rousdon, that its population
was fourteen, his stipend was thirty-eight
pounds and his church was barn. This
melancholy condition of things moved the
jury in his favor and dissipated the bad
effect which might otherwise have been
produced upon u fat and we'll fed jury,
clad in strong broadcloth. by his rags and
his evident poverty.
The counsel went on to elicit from the
rector that Dan Gulliver was his church
warden, and that with his two sons he
kept the church in such repair as made
divine service possible. The clergyman
added, quite simply and with dignity, that
Dan Gulliver was a worthy and religious
man who lived the life ola true Christian
The sergeant emphasized these replies
one after the other, each with wave of
his hand toward the jury, rs much as to
say: "You hear this, gentlemen; you will
remember the evidence of this holy min
lister of religion"
The evidence of the good old man, how
ever, lost its whole weight when the
counsel for the prosecution asked him one
or two questions in different direction.
He said:
81 fear, Mr.. Burden, that the lamenta-
bic exiguity of your income must shut you
out from the enjoyment of many of our
choicest blessings-port wine, for in
stance?'
The rector shook his head sadly.
81 believe that remember the taste OF
pOIV, uc StLlll, DuU pC ooAS Az
is so long since saw any"
Brandy cannot altogether replace port,
can it?" asked the barrister.
ut cannot" said the rector.
"Yet dare say you get brandy, at least
sometimes?'
'I do" said the rector
GAS present, now? from parishioner"'
II have it given to me-" said the rec
tor, "by my churchwarden, Dan Gulli-
ver."
II will not ask you," said the counsel,
"whencc you imagine this brandy to De
derived. I prefer to think that you ask
no questions and have no suspicious. 1t
would be too much to believe that divine
of your age and position should counte-
nance the practice of smuggling"
Then followed other witnesses and more
fencing.
Presently the counsel for the crown
made his speech. 1t was very short.
"Here," he said, twas man. with his two
sons, and stranger, probably hired
hand. The man was well known to be
smuggler-so well known that he was
afraid Lyme Regis was, to man, in alli-
ancc with him to defeat the ends OF JUS
ticc, and shielded him steadily in his runs
to and from the coast of France. lie was
caught, so to speak, red handed"
1t was impossible to resist the convic-
ton that the rest Of the kegs which COM
posed the cargo contained, like the one
which had been opened, brandy. OF
course it was open to any one to maintain
the improbable. HIS learned brother
might ask them to believe that these four
men had crossed the channel and landed
on an enemy's coast, in quest OF potatoes,
cabbages, fruit, butter, or any other mar
ketablc article. The undisputed facts
were, that here was man with fast
sailing craft and fishing boat-what